Met an experienced SE Asia cyclist February 11
In Siem Reip finally. About 90kms today. I met a German cyclist along the way, also headed for Siem Reip. Talked with him for a bit, and saw him several other times throughout the day, though we never really cycled together. It was interesting talking with him, as it seems like he’s done a fair amount of cycling in the region. On this trip, he started in Rangoon, Mynamar. He said Mynmar was hard, because there are so many polic and military and they place so much restriction on where you can and can’t go.
I asked him if he’d ever had problems with locals here in Cambodia. He said no, not in the past two years. But before that, yes, men on motorbikes would pull up alongside him and ask for money. He said he always told them no, as they weren’t armed. He said that because the roads here were a lot worse, many fewer people were on the road. Thus the increased problems. Midday, when people stopped travelling to get out of the sun and have lunch, and late afternoon, when people stopped for the day, were much more dangerous and times not to be on the road.